Der Blogger

"Enough is enough!" "This can't go on!" "This has to stop!" These were among the comments that came through the blizzard of commentary after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County. We have heard these words before.

Wanderlust

As a travel destination, Germany has never been more popular. With tourist numbers forecast to rise for an eighth consecutive year, what is the country doing right to account for its thriving visitor numbers?

Akademia

For education experts, English language lessons have proven valuable in primary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. But the Alternative for Germany’s state parliamentary group in NRW have a rather different view.

Essen & Trinken

Police in the city of Osnabrück had to clear crowds in front of a new döner kebab shop on Tuesday, after about 150 hungry people packed the street outside, eager to get their hands on a döner for only €0.01.

Germericana

Many Americans have German ancestors — and that's also the case for actress Meghan Markle, who will be marrying Prince Harry, himself a descendant of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a German dynasty.

German actress Diane Kruger: Queen of Cannes

In the thriller “In the Fade” by Hamburg-born and -based director Fatih Akin, Diane Kruger depicts a German mother called Katja, whose Kurdish husband and five-year-old son are killed by a bomb planted by neo-Nazis. It was actually the German-American actress’s first German-language role; she won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance.

She left home at the age of 15 in search of broader horizons. Diane Kruger’s hometown of Algermissen, close to the north-central city of Hildesheim, had grown too small for the teenager.
Born on July 15, 1976 to a banking clerk and a computer specialist, the wannabe dancer left for Paris, where she started a career as a model. She graced the covers of “Vogue” and “Elle.”

From model to actress

In 2000, the young Kruger switched careers, taking classes at an acting school in the French capital. Her perfect French language skills later helped her to land important roles in independent films, including several under director Fabienne Berthaud.

At the end of her studies, Kruger acted in several shorts, including “The Piano Player,” a short which saw her sharing a set with Christopher Lambert and Dennis Hopper.

The thriller “Wicker Park,” released in 2004, was her first role in an international production. For the role, however, she shortened her birth name, as Heidkrüger proved too complicated for tongues in Hollywood. Ever since, she’s been known as Diane Kruger.

A short while later, she made her Hollywood debut, finding her way to the head of a pack of nearly 3,000 competitors for the role of Helena in Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy.”

Although she now lives in Hollywood, Kruger continues to take part in smaller European productions. In the European co-production “Merry Christmas,” she appears alongside German actors Benno Fürmann and Daniel Brühl. For the role, which cast her as a singer on a World War I front, she even took private singing lessons.

A sought-after jury member

One role that gained lots of international attention was Kruger’s appearance in Quentin Tarantino’s Nazi drama, “Inglorious Basterds.” In it, she played a German playing a risky game of chance, a woman adored by the Nazis but spying for the Americans.

She gained critical acclaim with the role, and was asked to be a jury member at film festivals in Cannes and Venice. In 2017 she took on her first real German-speaking role for Fatih Akin with the film “In the Fade” – and promptly took home the Best Actress award from Cannes.

Kultur

The German term "Heimat," often translated as "homeland," was long thought of as tacky, regressive, and even politically dubious. But since the election, German politicians across the spectrum are using it once again.

Das Kino

This month's Berlin film festival, Europe's first major cinema showcase in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, will shine a light on sexual misconduct in the industry, its director said on Tuesday.

Gesundheit

In the run-up to international World Cancer Day on Sunday, experts have said that about half of all cancer cases in Germany could be prevented by a healthier lifestyle. Across the country, around 500,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. But experts say things like exercise could cut this figure in half. “Movement can […]